special passages, see Matt, xii, 82; xxv; xxvi,24; Mark i Rev. xiv, 11; xx, 10.) Moreover, aparl
from -],i . i.-ii passages, the general tone of the New Tes- tament indicates the final and irrevocable ruin of those who persist to the last in sin and in the rejection of ( Ihrisl the Saviour.
2. In the ancient Church, the Alexandrian theolo- gians were the first t" teach that there could lie an end to the punishments of helL According to them disci- pline and reformation were the only ends of punishment.
so that it could not be eternal: the final end is a-xoKa- Taaraaic. the entire freedom from evil. Hence Clement say>. •' If in this life there are so many ways for purifi- cation and repentance, how much more should there be after death! The purification of souls, when separated from the body, will be easier. We can sit no limits to the agency of the Redeemer; to redeem, to rescue, to discipline, i> bis work ; and so will he continue to oper- ate after this life" (Stromata, vi. 638). Clement did not deem it proper t,, express bimsell more fully respect- ing this doctrine, because be considered that it formed a part of the Gnosis. Hence he says. "As to the rest, I am silent, and praise the Lord" (ibid. vii. 706). Origen infers from the variety of ways and methods by which men are led to the faith in this life that there will be a diversity in the divine modes of discipline after death; notwithstanding this, however, he considers it extri noe- ly important that every one should in this life become a believer. Whoever neglects the Gospel, or alter bap- tism commits grievous sins, will suffer so much heat iez punishments alter death | In Joann. vi. 267). The doc- trine of a general restoration lie found explicitly in 1 Cor. xv, 28. Yet he reckons this among the (inostic(or esoteric) doctrines; for he says. •• It would not be useful for all to have this knowledge: but it is well if at least fear of a material hi 11 keep them back from sin" ( //( Jerem, l!<ou. xix). (See Neander, Hist, of Dogmas, i, 254.) "But, in opposition to these, the doctrine of the eternity of future punishments was affirmed by Other equally distinguished teachers, e. g. Basil, John of Con- stantinople, among the Greeks, and. among the Latins, by Jerome, Augustine, and others." Gregory ol Nyssa, however, defended the restorationism (arroKaraaraaic.) of Origen. Augustine, on the other hand, opposed it strenuously ; the whole spirit of bis system, and his full and strong conception of the justice of God, were fun- damentally opposed to restorationism. "The doctrine of Origen was condemned by the Council of Alexan- dria, A.D. 399, and afterwards by many other councils, and the doctrine of the eternity of future punishments was established as the faith of the Church" (Knapp,
Theology, § 158). The doctrine of purgatory s grew
up to take the place of the theory of restorationism. "The doctrine of the limited duration of future punish- ment fell into very ill repute in the Western t !hurcb,on account of its being professed by some of the enthusias- tic and revolutionary parties in the 16th century (e.g. by
the Anabaptists I, and from its being intimately c u ct-
ed with their expectations and schemes. The mere profession of the doctrine came to be regarded as imply- ing assent to the other extravagances of these parties, and as the signal lor rebellion. Hence it is rejected in the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church as an Anabaptistieal doctrine (Avgs. Confess, art. xvii). In the form in which this doctrine w as held by these sects
it deserves the most unmingled disapprobation. Again, among the ill-famed Christian free-thinkers e. -. the Socinians — there were some who professed it. In mod- ern times it has been the same. Tins doctrine has been advocated in the Protestant Church both by mi n who have stood in suspicion of enthusiasm (eg. Peterson, Lavater, and others) and by some of the free-thinkers in philosophy ami theology, although for very different causes and on very different grounds by these two classes" (Knapp, ut sup."). See Burnet, Dt Statu Mor- tuorum; Cotta, HUtoria Succincta Dogmatis d\ Posna- rum Ttifernalium Duration) (Tubingen, 1771. 8vo); Dietelmair. Antiq. Comment. Fanatici dt djroranwrewc iravrwv (Altorf, 1769, 8vo); Tillotson, Sermons, vol. ii 5 Lewi-. Tht Natun of Hell (Lond. I7'_'u. 8vo) : Strong, Doctrim -;/' Eternal Misery (Hartford, 1796, 8vo); Stuart. Exegetical Essays on rutin; Punish
dover, 1830, I'Jmoi: l'.aimiu'arteii. Vindida J'n minim
AEternarum (Halle, 17 12): Meth, Quar. /.'. v. April. 1861 ; New-Englander, 1861, p. 63; Contemporary /.'■>■. April, 1872; Presbyterian Rev. Oct. 1872. See also the arti- cles PURGATORY, Rj mini HON, and UN1VER3AT.TBM,
PUNITES
791
PURANA
under which latter title the subject will be more fully- treated.
Pu'nites (Ileb. Puni, ISIB, a Gentile term, from Puvvah, MB ; Sept. 6 &ova drjpog v. r. 6 <i>ovai), a collective term for the descendants of Phuvah or l'ua (Numb, xxvi, 23). See Phuvah.
Punjabi or Sikh Version. A version of the New Test, for the people inhabiting an extensive coun- try of North-west Hindostan called Punjab was com- menced in 1807 at Serampore, but the fonts of type were destroyed by fire. The loss, however, was soon replaced, and in 1813 the Gospels and Acts were an- nounced as finished. In 1815 the entire New Test., in an edition of 1000 copies, was completed, and in 1832 a second edition was undertaken. The translation of the Old Test, was also undertaken, and in 1820 the Penta- teuch and historical books were issued, and now the whole Bible, published by the Serampore Mission, is road in Punjabi, as the seventy-third report of the British and Foreign Bible Society (1877) shows. (B. P.)